He is the creative force in Chelsea's midfield and can make even fellow Spain
internationals look foolish.

Blues manager Rafael Benitez believes Mata should be a main contender for Footballer of the Year.

And he points to a YouTube clip of Mata performing an outrageous nutmeg on Raul Albiol while training with Spain as evidence of his technical skill.

It has attracted more than six million online hits and Benitez has revealed that Mata repeated the trick during training at Chelsea on Tuesday, although he wouldn't reveal the identity of the poor player he did it on.